Mastodawn

Why do minority characters need a justification for existing, but white male characters can exist without needing justification?

https://lemmy.world/post/39910583

Why do minority characters need a justification for existing, but white male characters can exist without needing justification? - Lemmy.World

An artist could create a story in which a white person dies and goes to a fictional and magical Japan or a fictional and magical Africa, and it wouldn’t be a problem because there are no limits to fiction. But if they made a story in which a Mexican person dies and goes to a magical and fictional Europe, there would be problems. Why are there no limits for white people in fiction, but are there limits for minorities?

same reason why every black person in all positions is considered DEI even when they have decades of relevant experience pages, graduated top of their class in ivy league schools, and some white guy with middling experience, possibly even in the wrong field… gets put in and nobody questions it.

You’re going to have to explain this better because it’s really not making sense.

CarbonatedPastaSauce Dec 9

He just wanted an excuse to virtue signal. Just read the rant he had queued up once the comments started. He’s complaining about racists’ reactions to something, not the thing itself. He’s incorrect in his assertion that these stories aren’t being written or filmed.

Racism/White As The Default

Onomatopoeia Dec 8

They do?

Think we need some examples

N.K. Jemisin was attacked by right-wingers. The reason? Simple: her story has no white characters and is centered on non-white characters. The story is original, but apparently it’s still woke. If a story can only have white characters simply because the author wanted it that way, then what’s the need to give 10,000 explanations for the existence of minority characters?

sin_free_for_00_days Dec 9

Right wingers are freaking idiots. I wouldn’t let anything that comes from that bunch of xenophobic, racist, strong-man-loving turds. Asking a right winger to explain their viewpoint will just make you feel dumber. Why are you even caring what some stupid, inbred, shallow-thinking bigots think or say?

It might be because there are a lot more (visible) records of random white dudes being places they had no business being in the pursuit of colonialism.

I prefer stories of random white dudes being in places they had no business being in because they went from their childhood home in the countryside to the big city, met the wrong people while they were drunk and woke up there with sunburn and knowledge of a great number of sea shanties.

Me too, but I think we get more stories from the captains instead of the crew unfortunately

madcaesar Dec 8

Have you really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?

This comment is art.

Have bookmarked.

cliffracer_cloaka Dec 9

It’s a really old 4chan meme, jfyi.

MyBrainHurts Dec 8

This feels like ragebait or you need to read or watch more modern stuff.

「黃家駒 Wong Ka Kui」(old account, migrated to Piefed)Dec 8

I get the feel that OP just spend a lot of time in social circles with a lot of racists.

Or just on twitter, or parts of reddit, or the internet in general etc… I mean there certainly was no shortage of outrage… with say the little mermaid etc…

Now I will admit a good portion of it is that producers have really gotten shitty on writing in general, and often try and compensate it by throwing in a less represented in media character. IE say the last 2 doctors, girl ghostbusters etc… IE things aren’t terrible because of diverse casting, but if it is terrible, diverse casting isn’t going to fix it.

FriendOfDeSoto Dec 8

Like some of the other commenters here, I would not be surprised if that were so. Because racism.

However, I wonder if the premise of your question is true. Are there really no stories about Mexicans in fairy tale Europe? Or Japanese at the court of King Arthur? Or would they have you justify it more than a European in Wakanda? I’m sure Hollywood would care less about these stories but does that mean no one cares? I’m not sure. And since I’m not reading a lot of Mexican or Japanese authors I can only speculate.

The allure of stories like these is the unknown factor, the exotic, the strange. Thanks to centuries of colonization of the rest of the world, Europe is not exactly unknown or considered to be an exotic place in the rest of the world. This might contribute to a cultural bias.

「黃家駒 Wong Ka Kui」(old account, migrated to Piefed)Dec 8

Your average white dude got so used to rural alabama that suddenly seeing minorities being depicted on TV triggers their tribalistic mindset, especially if the setting is depicted as the United States.

Devolution Dec 8

Same reason for redheads or for the token white person in an all black production.

Example: only two white guys in black panther. One is a colonizer and the other is an idiot.

LemmyKnowsBest Dec 8

Sounds like a writing prompt. Somebody please write a story about a Mexican who dies and his ghost goes to Europe.

InternetCitizen2 Dec 9

Its already a movie and anti climactic. They think he’s a Spaniard and no one cares.

carl_dungeon Dec 9

In predominantly black countries, isn’t it the same but reversed? I find it hard to believe that in Central African literature it’s mostly a bunch of white guys running around.

Are you being obtuse on purpose? Even if a story is based on African mythology, it would still be attacked by right-wingers, as it’s a pattern of right-wing behavior to attack works centered on minorities. The US isn’t a white country, it’s a multiracial country. Being a multiracial country, it should be normal to have a story with minority characters, but the mere existence of a Black protagonist is enough for them to say it’s woke. In fact, whether a country is predominantly Black, Asian, or white is irrelevant. An author could create a story where a white person dies and is reincarnated in Japan with the mission of saving Japanese people, and there would be no complaints. Put a Black, Mexican, or any other minority character as the protagonist in a Japanese story, and you’ll see right-wingers attacking. The point is: there are no limits to fiction when it comes to white characters, while minority characters must give thousand explanations as to why they exist, otherwise it’s forced representation.

PNW clouds Dec 9

I think they were addressing an implied specificity in your question. You were asking about American-based media or media for US audiences without explicitly saying that.

For instance, Get Out wouldn’t have hit the same if the entire cast had been white. The racial tension is the point.

Because it sounds like you are saying we accept The Ring remake being a white cast. But if Ringu had been remade with a non-white English speaking cast it would be called woke by US right-wingers. (Even though it’s Japanese fiction. At least I hope it is fiction)

Siothe other person is asking, I think, if Japan remade Get Out for the Japanese audience and used Japanese speaking white and black people, would Japanese right-wingers lose their shit and call it woke for not casting ethnically Japanese actors?

The follow-up question becomes: is it a right-wing issue regardless of the race or nationality of right-wingers or is it a uniquely US problem because of the ignored national diversity of the overall population?

Welcome to America is a black African coming to America. I’m sure there’s multiple Jackie Chan movies that fit the bill. Once upon a time in Mexico was mostly Hispanic people in Mexico.

I guess I’m not sure what you exact question is. Does it have to be a fantasy where a minority dies and ends up in a fake, white dominate location, like opposite of Wakanda?

I’m not well versed in foreign films, but I bet there are a bunch of Bollywood films as well that cover these bases.

RamRabbit Dec 9

Shows from Korea have mostly Koreans. Shows from China have mostly Chinese. Shows from Brazil have mostly Brazilians.

I’m really confused on why any of that is odd?